Organizers say a gospel music museum planned for Chicago‘s South Side will be the first in the country.

The National Museum of Gospel Music will be built on the site of the Pilgrim Baptist Church in the Bronzeville neighborhood. The church’s music director and blues pianist in 1932, Thomas A. Dorsey, was hugely influential in the genre, blending Christian text with jazz and blues. And the church drew singers such as Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson and James Cleveland.

The church burned down in 2006, leaving only the exterior walls.

Architect Dirk Lohan adapted a design for the project that would salvage the existing church walls. It calls for a 45,000-square-feet (4180-square-meters) facility with a glass-encased roof addition. The plans also call for exhibitions, an auditorium and listening library.

Read more here.

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